Dawn Primarolo: Legislation to prevent companies bringing forward tax relief for losses prior to transition to international accounting standards is to be included in Finance Bill 2005. The legislation applies to losses arising on transactions that are designed to accelerate relief that would otherwise be deferred. The changes will have effect from today.
	A copy of today's Inland Revenue news release giving the relevant background to this measure has been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses and is accessible on the Inland Revenue's website at: http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk.

Christopher Leslie: The following statement has been made by my right hon. and noble learned Friend, the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton.
	"The location and the setting for the UK Supreme Court should be a reflection of its importance and its place at the apex of the justice system, and the heart of the constitution. Providing the Supreme Court with its own building provides a physical demonstration of the separation between the judiciary and the legislature. Establishing the Supreme Court in the Palace of Westminster would be entirely inappropriate.
	Following an extensive search and evaluation of potential sites in central London, I am today announcing that Middlesex Guildhall is my preferred option for housing the Supreme Court.
	There are three key reasons for this decision:
	its location on Parliament Square will mean that the judiciary, the legislature, the executive and the Church are each represented on the four sides of the square enhancing its position atthe heart of our capital;
	it is able to provide all the key design requirements of a modern Supreme Court and therefore represents a significant improvement on the Law Lords' current accommodation; and
	it will deliver this much improved accommodation at a reasonable cost, demonstrating good value for money.
	At this stage, I should stress that Middlesex Guildhall is my preferred option. As the detailed designs are developed, I will need to remain satisfied that they fully meet the operational requirements of a modern Supreme Court. This will, of course, require the normal planning approvals and my officials are consulting with English Heritage and Westminster city council on the development of the designs. The Law Lords have continuing reservations as to the suitability of this building to house the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. I will continue to consult with them closely on the issues.
	The Design Proposals
	The building for the new Supreme Court needs to meet the statement of requirements that was agreed with Lord Bingham of Cornhill in August 2003 and subsequently developed in discussion with the Law Lords' Supreme Court Sub-Committee, chaired by Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead. The headline requirement is for a building that measures at least 3,500 square metres, including sufficient space to enable co-location with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (currently based in Downing Street).
	My view is that Middlesex Guildhall meets the statement of requirements and would enable much better facilities to be provided than the current arrangements. The proposals for this self-contained and dedicated building include:
	three large hearing rooms, measuring between 143 and 190 square metres. This compares with 94 square metres for House of Lords Committee Room One;
	greatly improved public access: we will ensure that both UK citizens and visitors from overseas have the opportunity to see the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom at work. The hearing rooms will provide approximately twice the number of public seats currently available in the Appellate Committee;
	an education suite enabling information to be disseminated on the Supreme Court and providing the possibility of a live feed from the hearing rooms;
	improved infrastructure, including better IT;
	accommodation for the staff of the Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. This includes space for additional research assistants and secretarial staff. This will enable greater support to be provided to the Supreme Court justices and improve case management;
	14 large en-suite judicial chambers; and
	a world-class law library with an area of approximately 250 square metres. Considerable additional space for library records and less used materials will be available in the basement.
	We are developing these plans for the building in close consultation with the Law Lords, English Heritage and Westminster city council. We would of course need to apply for planning permission in the usual way. The city council is not in a position to accept the principle or the detail of the building scheme at this stage.
	Delivering the Proposals
	Providing the right building for the Supreme Court has financial implications. The cost of establishing the Supreme Court at Middlesex Guildhall will be approximately £30 million in current terms. This £30 million estimate contains two elements: base costs and optimism bias. The base costs are construction costs and statutory fees of £15 million; £2 million professional fees; and £3 million VAT. Those figures are then inflated by 50 per cent. optimism bias in accordance with HM Treasury guidance on financial appraisal and evaluation (the green book). The optimism bias is applied to building projects as a contingency to cover risks, unforeseen issues and changing project specifications.
	But I also need to ensure that the criminal justice system is not adversely affected by the selection of Middlesex Guildhall. I have therefore considered a number of options for providing additional courtrooms and I am confident that the Middlesex work can be decanted while sustaining criminal justice performance. I will be discussing these decant plans in detail with the judiciary and criminal justice partners over the next few months. Provision of the additional courtrooms will cost a further £15 million in current terms (including optimism bias).
	The approximate annual cash running costs following establishment of the Supreme Court would be £8.8 million (£8.4 million relating to the Supreme Court; the remainder being the ongoing costs from courtroom reprovision). This figure includes £2.1 million judicial remuneration; £1.1 million staff salaries; £1.0 million administrative costs; £0.4 million utilities and rates; and £3.8 million building costs (including capital charge/lease costs and building maintenance costs).
	It is not entirely straightforward to separate the administrative costs of the Appellate Committee from the generality of expenditure in the House of Lords, but the approximate annual cost to the public purse of the current arrangements are just over £3.2 million per annum. This figure includes judicial and staff remuneration, and general administrative costs. The table below compares the current and estimated running costs.
	
		
			   Costs (£m) 
			  Appellate CommitteeCosts 2002–03 Supreme CourtEstimated Costs 
		
		
			 Judicial Salaries 2.1 2.1 
			 Staff Salaries 0.6 1.1 
			 Admin 0.4 1.0 
			 Utilities and Rates 0.1 0.4 
			 Building Costs  3.8 
			 TOTAL 3.2 8.4 
		
	
	This is a complex project which will require delivery in two key stages: the provision of additional courtrooms needs to be completed before refurbishment work can begin on Middlesex Guildhall itself. While I need to be satisfied that both stages are completed to a high standard, my aim is to establish the Supreme Court as soon as practicable. I would therefore hope that the court's first sitting would be in 2008.
	The Supreme Court would not be established until the building was ready for operation.
	The Search and Evaluation Process
	The search for the Supreme Court has involved:
	reviewing the DCA estate in London;
	considering any suitable properties on the Greater London Magistrates' Court Authority estate;
	advice from the Office of Government Commerce on availability of property on the wide Government estate in London;
	contacting 17 Whitehall Departments to determine whether any of their buildings would be suitable; and
	commissioning professional agents to search commercially available property.
	The search generated a long-list of 48 properties, five of which merited further consideration after closer scrutiny against a number of criteria (size, operational efficiency, adaptability, suitability). After a full Treasury green book appraisal of these five options, two properties—Middlesex Guildhall and the new wing of Somerset House—remained under active consideration.
	In order to finalise the evaluation of the two options, more work was undertaken to identify how the current layouts could be adapted in order to meet the specific requirements of the Supreme Court (including engagement with the Law Lords, English Heritage and Westminster city council).
	Of these two strong options, my decision that Middlesex Guildhall should be the preferred option was based on the three key reasons set out above: its location on Parliament Square; its fit with the Supreme Court requirements; and its value for money."

Tessa Jowell: Today, I am pleased to announce the allocation of Government funding for sport through my Department for the next three financial years.
	In 2005–06 funding for sport from the Exchequer will be £126.208 million, in 2006–07 it will be £149,708 million, and I am also making an indicative allocation of £155.163 million in 2007–08.
	The total breaks down over the three-year cycle as follows:
	2005–06—£126.208 million
	2006–07—£149.708 million
	2007–08—£155.163 million
	In that time Sport England will receive:
	2005–06—£88.916 million
	2006–07—£88.916 million
	2007–08—£88.916 million
	UK Sport will receive:
	2005–06—£29.566 million
	2006–07—£29.566 million
	2007–08—£29.566 million
	The Football Licensing Authority will receive:
	2005–06—£1.264 million
	2006–07—£1.264 million
	2007–08—£1.264 million
	An allocation has been made within the settlement for other sport initiatives, including a possible National Sports Foundation. Exactly how this funding is to be divided has yet to be determined but in general terms it will be used to support development in terms of volunteering, participation, facilities and the identification and nurture of talented athletes. Lord Carter is to publish his report in February.
	This settlement represents a good result for sport. Overall, it will release over £431million for sport between 2005–06 and 2007–08 from the Exchequer, and will see annual funding rise 31 per cent. from some £118 million in 2004–05 to over £155 million in 2007–08. This will enable us both to strengthen the grass roots of sport, with a renewed emphasis on school and community sport, while also enabling us to identify and nurture a new generation of sporting champions as we build up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the possibility of a London Olympics in 2012.
	I believe that this extra support will enable us to continue to progress towards our shared goal of creating an active and successful sporting nation.
	The Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr. Twigg) has also made a statement today, on behalf of the Prime Minister and me, announcing another great boost for school sport.
	Of the £431 million announced for sport in this statement, approximately £133.5 million will be used to support the aims and objectives set out in the statement made by the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills.

Stephen Twigg: The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and I are today announcing another boost for school sport.
	In 2002 the Government launched the first ever comprehensive national physical education (PE), school sport and club links strategy with an investment of £459 million for delivery between 2003 and 2006. The aim—a public service agreement (PSA) target shared by the Departments for Education and Skills and for Culture, Media and Sport—is to:
	Enhance the take up of sporting opportunities by five to 16 year olds by increasing the percentage of school children who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport, within and beyond the curriculum, from 25 per cent. in 2002 to 75 per cent. by 2006 and to 85 per cent. by 2008, and to at least 75 per cent. in each school sport partnership by 2008.
	Spearheading action is the creation of a national network of at least 400 specialist sports colleges and school sport partnerships. There are now 291 colleges—including four academies with a sports focus and 54 per cent. of schools in England are within one of the 313 school sport partnerships, benefiting 3.5 million pupils in over 12,000 schools. All schools will be within a school sport partnership by 2006.
	We are well on the way to delivering the PSA target. The 2003–04 survey of school sport partnerships found that 62 per cent. of pupils were spending two hours in a typical week on high quality PE and school sport. It also showed a 16 percentage point difference in take up of the two hour entitlement between pupils in the longest established partnerships and those newer to the programme. The results of the survey were published on 29 April and copies of the report—"The Impact of School Sport Partnerships"—are available in the Libraries of both Houses and at www.teachernet.gov. uk/pe.
	This is good progress, but we want to do more. By 2010 our ambition is for all children to be offered at least four hours of sport every week, comprising at least two hours high quality PE and sport at school and the opportunity for at least a further two to three hours beyond the school day (delivered by a range of school, community and club providers). A further £519 million has been allocated—combined funding from the Departments for Education and Skills and for Culture, Media and Sport—to continue work on the national strategy from 2006–07 to 2007–08 to take us towards this ambition. That means in the five years up to 2008, including £686 million of dedicated lottery funding, Government investment in PE and school sport will have totalled over £l.5 billion.
	Many of our 2012 Olympic and Paralympic medal winners are at school today. We are determined to make the pathway from playground to podium a reality for these young people. As part of the additional investment, new competition managers will be put in place to work with school sport partnerships. These managers will strengthen the ladder of sporting opportunity by creating a competition structure across all ages, ranging from school based festivals to national competitions, this will give all children the chance to play competitive sport—whatever their age or ability. Our ultimate aim is to have one in each of our school sport partnerships by 2010.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is today announcing the allocation of Government funding for sport over the next three financial years. This money, together with the measures we have announced today, represents the best ever deal for sport in schools and will help us to achieve our goal of becoming a nation of sporting excellence.